Fernando Torres has broken his silence on his controversial departure from Liverpool and claimed he was “presented as a traitor” by the Anfield club following his move to Chelsea.

Spanish striker Torres made a £50m move to Stamford Bridge as the January transfer window came to a close in 2011, with his subsequent interview on Chelsea TV claiming he was happy to join a “top level club” viewed as a criticism of Liverpool’s ambition.

Despite collecting a host of winners medals in his time at Chelsea, Torres endured a miserable spell with the west London club and now he is keen to set the record straight in a new book entitled Ring of Fire: Liverpool FC into the 21st Century.

Torres reveals that Liverpool’s new owners Fenway Sports Group and their Sporting Director Damien Comolli suggested they were keen to sell Torres and invest the cash they received in his transfer on younger players, as he was encouraged to leave the club.

“Comolli told me that the new owners had an idea of how to spend their investment,” stated Atletico Madrid striker Torres, in quotes appearing in the Daily Mirror.

“They wanted to bring in young players, to build something new. I was thinking to myself, this takes time to work. It takes two, three, four, maybe even 10 years.

“I didn’t have that time. I was 27 years old. I did not have time to wait. I wanted to win. Here we are five years later and they are still trying to build, around the same position in the league as when I left.

“It was presented as if I was a traitor. It was not like this in the discussion. Liverpool could not admit they were doing something wrong with the whole team. They had to find a guilty one.”

Torres is clearly keen to build some bridges with Liverpool supporters, but it remains to be seen whether they will be willing to give him a warmer welcome than he has received in the last few years if he makes a return to Anfield any time soon.